Melancholy (Canon-Divergent)
by An Ordinary Riceball
Summary: Set in FMA 2003, where Edward uses self-harm as a way to deal with his emotions, and watch as he slowly opens himself up to people. Possible Big Brother Envy themes later on, even if it will be a hard road to get there. Will include some personal feelings and experiences. Triggering content.
1. Prologue

**Story: Melancholy, Chapter 1 (Prologue) (This Prologue takes place before Trisha's death, when Ed and Al are still children.)**

 **Set in 2003, but where Edward uses self-harm as a way to deal with his emotions, and watch as he slowly opens himself up to people. Possible Big Brother Envy themes later on, even if it will be a hard road to get there. Will include some personal experiences, so try to be nice. there will be more explaination to why ed started in future. This chapter doesn't entirely explain it. Sorry, this is probably crap though**

* * *

"I wish I had as much talent as you, Brother..." young Alphonse muttered, one day, looking down at a metal sculpture he had attempted to make when he and Ed were practicing their Alchemy. No matter how much he tried, Ed was always several steps ahead of him, and had a better grasp on the structure of matter than him.

"What are you talking about, Al...?" Ed gave a small gentle smile, taken aback and uncertain by the display of doubt from his little Brother, before he tried to reassure him. "Yours looks great...!"

"You think so...?" Al inquired, looking bashful.

"Yeah. Of course you still need some practice, but that's why you have _me_." He said pointing to himself, with a smile.

Alphonse laughed a little in response at his Brother's confidence, before he looked away again. "Hey, Brother...?"

"Yeah?" Edward looked at his little brother with curiosity and a little worry at the downcast expression.

"Do you think Dad will be proud of us when he comes back?" Alphonse mumbled. This was one of the few moments that he openly showed just how lonely he really was without a father figure in his life. Alphonse was usually more optimistic than Edward, but he still most certainly had his lows.

Edward felt bitter at hearing the mention of his father. He didn't want to hurt Alphonse, but he wasn't the type to let others live in hopeless idealism. He looked down, hair shadowing his eyes. "Dad's not coming back, Al..."

"But mom says-" Alphonse tried to argue.

"We've talked about this before, so quit bringing it up already!" Edward snapped, standing up and startling him. "Mom is trying to hide the truth from us, because she doesn't want us to worry. Haven't you noticed that she looks sad when she thinks nobody is looking...? Dad doesn't care about us _or_ her... He _abandoned_ us...!"

He trailed off into silence, his voice choking up, as tears burned his eyes, threatening to fall. Alphonse understood what he was feeling to a degree, but he had never hated his father, and didn't hold the cynicism and hostility that Edward did towards their father. More than anything, he actually still had some _faith_ in his missing father despite everything.

"I know you may not agree with me on this, Brother...," he said, clutching his knees, nervously. "but I believe that one day, he'll come back. There must be an important reason he left, so I-"

Edward's eyes widened, and Alphonse didn't even get to finish the sentence before he was interrupted, by his older brother.

" _There's nothing in this world_..." Edward started in a low voice before glaring at Alphonse. "that equates to mom's suffering! She's done nothing wrong and she doesn't deserve this!"

Before he could think about what he was doing, he threw his own sculpture at Al, hitting him in the head. Alphonse shouted in pain when it hit him, clutching his head. Immediately, Edward was filled with guilt, wanted to apologize, but he couldn't and wouldn't bring himself to.

He only turned away, running off and completely ignoring his brother calling out for him.

He didn't quite know where he was going, but he just kept running, feeling his frustration becoming more and more overwhelming by the second, until he ended up tripping due to not watching where he was going. As a result, he skidded across the ground, skinning his right knee and arm in the dirt in the process. Whenever he sat up, he was bleeding, and was hurting like hell. Reaching up, he tried to brush the dirt off of his leg, flinching in pain, because the wound was sensitive to the touch. However, it was at that moment that something snapped in him, and he didn't even think. Instead, he just started scratching into the bleeding area, feeling the tears finally beginning to fall from his eyes.

He dug deeper and deeper into his skin until his fingernails were coated in deep red. He didn't know why he was doing it or what possessed him to, but he couldn't stop, and didn't want to stop.

"Edward?" He thought he heard his mother's voice say, but was too fixated on the blood to be sure. It had sounded like he just imagined it, so he payed it no mind, until he felt sudden warmth seeping into his senses. Somebody was embracing him and trying to pry his hands from his knee. He grew tense, trying to fight against it. "Edward, sweetie, it's okay. You're okay."

At hearing the soothing words, Edward relaxed ever so slightly, but still wanted to reach towards his leg to scratch more.

"Mom... I'm sorry... I..." His voice choked up, as he melted into her embrace, despite feeling conflicting desires at the moment. He apologized again, unable to stop his tears from falling.

"Shhh..." Trisha rubbed his back in an attempt to soothe him, and, slowly, it seemed to be working. Tears had filled up in her own eyes at seeing her son like this. Never would she have ever imagined that he was taking things this hard.

After Edward calmed down and stopped reaching towards his bloody knee. He noticed Alphonse standing a few feet away. Alphonse didn't know what to say, and was avoiding his gaze. He wanted to help him, but after their argument, he didn't know if it was a good idea for him to try to initiate discussion at all yet.

Edward too wanted to apologize, but couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Now, Ed... Will you tell me why you were hurting yourself...?" Trisha asked after a little while, pulling back to face Edward.

Edward looked down to avoid her gaze, more ashamed than ever by what he had done. "I... don't know... It just happened... I want to be stronger, like you, but I screwed up..."

Trisha's face filled with pain at hearing that. And she felt guilt creeping up for not being able to prevent this. Now she had a idea as to why Ed and Al silently bottled things up. Edward and Alphonse were always watching her. They had learned to keep their feelings to themselves, because she herself did that all the time, and they got that from her. It wasn't something she was proud of, either. She had always wanted her children to grow up being able to trust in those around them, and having people they could talk too, but it seemed like they were going down the same path she had, after all.

"Honey, I'm not as strong as you think. It's okay to rely on others. You don't need to keep everything to yourself from now on." Trisha told him, before she reached over and pulled Alphonse in for a hug, smiling. "That goes for you too, little man. Okay?"

Alphonse laughed at little in response, blushing. "Okay."

Edward didn't understand how to rely on family or friends or anybody. Silently shouldering his pain alone was what he had grown used to. The idea of letting others in just didn't feel right to him. But for his mom, he would at least try, if not act.

"Now I want you to apologize to your Brother, Edward. It isn't nice to throw things at people."

Edward felt his face heat up a little, before he did as asked, muttering a meek, "Sorry..."

"It's okay, I forgive you..." Alphonse smiled hugging him. "But promise me you won't hurt yourself anymore, Brother. I don't want to see you do that to yourself again."

Edward looked guilty at hearing that. But did as he asked to satisfy him. "Don't worry. I won't, Al. I promise."

"Good." Trisha rubbed both of their heads. "Now let's go get that leg of yours bandaged up, alright, Ed?"

Edward gave a bashful smile. "Alright..."

That was Edward's first break down that led to him harming himself, but it most certainly would not be the last. He would just learn to hide it from those around him.

 _\- End of Chapter_

* * *

 **A/N: Hope I portrayed the characters fine. Also, I am probably going to have some** **development** **between Envy, Alphonse and Edward at some point seeing as Envy is their technical brother. Kay, I know he's bad a did a lot of crap. But I blame Dante for the way Envy turned out. Even if he likes to act like he's above her manipulation, I believe he's actually at the center of it. Besides... um... Envy and his abandonment issues has potential to help Edward overcome his own and vice versa. But give me other ideas if you think of them.**

 **Also, if this becomes a fullfledged AU, it will probably have a happier ending than 2003 just for the sake of Edward's recovery. In no way am I discrediting 2003's beautifully tragic tale though, because it truly ressonated with me.**


	2. House of the Waiting Family (Part 1 of 2

_**Story: Melancholy, Chapter 1, House of the Waiting Family (Part 1/2)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.**_

 _ **A/N: So what I'm going to do is start, by rewriting episode 17, House of the Waiting Family, (I will be adding things, though, so it won't all be the same) and go from there because I feel like it's the right place to start, not too soon, where it will drag on for a long time, but not too late where things have already hit the fan. Episode 17 was where a lot of Edward's and Alphonse's feelings on family was made apparent, For story sake, there will be** **omitted** **bits(to avoid too much repeated stuff unless it's relevant to Edward's feelings, added bits (very important) and possible slight changes to certain things to fit the characterization I'm going for, but the real changes will start sometime around episode 22, after Envy is brought in. Please be patient with me.**_

 _ **The changes won't be anything that grand at first and I will keep a fair semblance to the original story. However, I have a poll on my profile page, and want feed back if you will.**_

 _ **1\. Should I write a story up until episode 17, up to this point, and make this for the whole series, in other words, or just leave it as canon divergence?**_

 _ **2\. Should I still kill off Hughes?**_

 _ **I feel like it was very important to the** **story-line** **, and character development of character's like Roy, Winry, Sheska, Edward and others, so I probably will keep it in, but if I develope Envy, I will probably have a bit of a twist to it.**_

 _ **But if you feel like you want it to stay in, vote on the poll on my profile page.**_

 _ **All that aside... In my world, slapstick does not exist, because 1. it's not a type of humor I care for, and 2. I just don't think it would work as well in writing format anyway. I would probably end up writing it in a way that sounded genuinely abusive, even though that is not the purpose of slapstick.**_

 _ **So yeah, in this story, Winry will not hit Edward with wrenches for comedy, and will not hit him in general.**_

* * *

Resembool.

For years, the single thought of the place had been a source of pain for both of the brothers.

Unfortunately, push came to shove, and Edward's automail had been destroyed by Scar, so he had no choice.

"It's all so peaceful." Armstrong remarked, catching Edward's attention, as they were approaching Pinako's house.

Edward smirked, feeling a little awkward. He'd seen the place numerous times before and had grown used to it, it wasn't really anything that spectacular to himself, but he worded it as honestly as he could without sounding completely rude: "It's extremely rural, huh? There's nothing here."

Alphonse, who was sitting in the box that Armstrong was holding, looked around, feeling anticipation buiding up inside of him. "It's been four years."

Edward thought for a second, with a little bit of disbelief. "Has it really been that long?"

It felt like just yesterday.

Armstrong looked at him, a little taken aback. "Hm? You haven't been back home even once?"

Edward looked away, deep in thought. In truth, this was the last place he wanted to be.

He had wanted to avoid this place at all costs. This place was where he had not only lost his mother, but also took away his brother's freedom as a human, forcing him to suffer for so long in that hollow suit until they were able to get his body back, a feat that they weren't even certain they would be able to be pulled off, but that Edward refused to believe wasn't.

With how much Alphonse had been through thanks to him, he didn't even have a right to talk about a home. Not that they had one anyway, considering the taboo they had tread, and considering their loss of their mother, and that their father hadn't ever given a shit.

However, this was something he had long accepted by now.

"You can't come home to a place where you've got no home waiting for you." He said, a little to casually for Armstrong's exact comfort level, before looking back up. "Major, you've heard about our general situation, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Alex simply hummed in response. He had heard about the brothers' loosing their mother at a young age and their failure in trying to bring back their mother.

While he didn't know the depths to which their emotional devestation had went, he knew they had been though a lot, and that they were trying to find a way to get their limbs and bodies back, which they had lost as a result.

After hearing his response. Edward didn't say anything further, even if he did wonder exactly how much he knew and what he was thinking.

Once they made their way over the hill, he heard Den begin to bark.

Pinako was standing close by.

Upon seeing him, Pinako smiled a bit, calling out for Winry, who was inside of the house.

Den made way to immediately approach them, barking at them with excitement. Edward looked at him with fondness. "How have you been, Den?"

He then faced Pinako who was following behind. He gave a small smirk. It was funny to see that he had gotten taller than her now. "Grandma Pinako... It's been a long time. I need your services again."

...

"Good grief! What were you doing to wreck my very best automail, that I put my heart and soul into making!?" Winry shouted at Edward. In reality, she was worried about him getting himself into such a dangerous situation, even if a lot of her focus was, yes, on the automail being destroyed.

"Yeah, well it came apart so easily..." Edward nervously scratched the back of his head, not sure what to say otherwise. It would cause too much worry to give her the exact details of what happened, anyway, especially considering what happened to them the last time at the hands of a serial killer, which was one reason he hadn't wanted to see her.

He wouldn't doubt that she had been traumatized by that event and didn't want to imagine to what extent, because it had been his fault.

He himself had plenty of nightmares about that day anyway so he wanted to avoid thinking about it if he could.

Even looking at her now caused him to feel anxious, so he was finding it hard to meet her eyes.

"Al's is busted up beyond recognition, too! You guys were up to something dangerous, weren't you?"

"Well... you see..." Alphonse stammered nervously, trying to think of a way to explain it, without worrying Winry if he could help it.

However, Armstrong, who had sat down nearby, knew that neither brother would ever tell the full truth, yet they, who went through the effort of crafting and fixing Edward's automail, deserved to know. So he spoke up, whether or not the Brothers would like it.

"There's an Ishbalan they called Scar that's been going around using alchemy to murder state alchemists. Edward got targeted by him, and I'm sure you can assume the rest." He said grimmly.

"A _serial killer_?!" Winry's eyes widened, shock, disbelief and, above all, concern immediately consuming her facial features. Fear set in, remembering the last run in she had had with a serial killer.

"Hey, she didn't need to know all that!" Edward snapped. He was probably overstepping his bounds, but he didn't care, glaring at Armstrong without restraint.

"Edward, you idiot!" Winry, snapped causing Edward to jump, looking up at her. He felt guilty when he saw her pained expression. "You could have been killed...! I would have _wanted_ to know."

"Yeah, well I'm-" Edward tried to speak, but, before he could, Pinako interrupted.

"Break it up, you three." She lightly scolded, before approaching Edward. In no way did she approve of them nearly getting themselves killed, but she, as an adult, was aware that there were probably things that neither her nor Winry were even taking into consideration or even knew about.

She then proceeded to glance over Edward's legs and got him to straighten them out so she could correctly measure them.

"Hey, Pipsqueak, you've grown a little taller, haven't you?" She said, compairing the automail leg to his other leg.

"You didn't have to say pipsqueak!" Edward growled. Many considered Edward's reaction to being called pipsqueak ridiculous, some thought it was funny, but for Edward it was a very touchy topic. He had a complex about it and actually felt inferior to others somehow because of it.

Why did his height matter so much to others?

Being short didn't make him less of a man, but apparently to others it did. Sometimes he admittedly felt jealous of those around him for being taller than him, as it made him sometimes question if being short was a bad thing.

Pinako, not aware of the actual frustration Edward was feeling, ignored his retort, reaching up and holding her pipe, not knowing of the budding frustration welling up inside of him. "Which means, your leg needs to be adjusted as well."

Edward grew apprehensive at hearing that. He knew that if his leg was to be adjusted, it would take longer than expected.

"We'll have to build a new arm from scratch..." Pinako told him.

Edward thought for a moment, before asking, "Can you manage all that in a week or so? We're in a hurry."

Pinako breathed in on the pipe before blowing out some smoke. She then smirked. "You denigrate me. I'll have it down in three days."

Edward smiled awkwardly in response, feeling a little bad for putting her through so much trouble. "Sorry about that, Granny!"

Winry was listening in on their conversation, feeling a bit of sadness. Edward hadn't visited in four years, but when he finally did, he hadn't hadn't even even been there for an hour and already he was talking about getting back on the road.

She put her hands on hips. "What are you in such a rush for, though?

Everybody looks up at her.

"We'd like to get back to Central as soon as possible. We're looking for something important there." Alphonse explained.

Winry hummed a bit suspiciously, before glaring. "It's not anything dangerous, I trust."

"No..." Alphonse replied.

Edward waved his hand, nervously to dismiss her concerns, not wanting her to worry. "It's not anything like that!"

Winry's eyes narrowed before she sighed, exasperated, looking away. "Cripes, you guys never make anything but trouble for me."

Edward sighs in relief, as she walked off. It was good that she didn't pry too much. He really wasn't feeling up to it.

If Alphonse had a body, he would have been beaming. Even if he had rejected his home life much like Edward, it always made him happy to know that there were people there for them.

"Winry may complain, but she's always there for us, huh?" He said, in a light voice. If he had a body he would have also been blushing.

Edward smirked uncertainly, not sure how to respond. Unlike Alphonse, he didn't find trust in people as easily. He found the company of others to be hard to deal with at times, but he did know that Winry cared when it came down to it, he just doesn't understand _why_. But he said what he knew Alphonse would have wanted to hear, and what he knew down deep. "Yeah..."

...

Edward had gotten a spare leg from Pinako to use while his Automail leg was being adjusted. He had come outside to test it out. Lightly tapping his heel into ground, he smiled a bit. "It may just be a spare, but there sure is something different about how Granny makes them."

He was wearing a white Tee-shirt, and a pair of light blue shorts, skin-tight black boxers underneath them.

However, unknown to anybody aside from Edward, underneath the black boxers lied too many scars and cuts to count.

The tight black cloth hid them without provoking suspicions. And more importantly, the boxers kept bandage wrap compressed and helped keep it from bleeding through, which was something he liked about them.

Alphonse, who had been brought outside by Armstrong, was sitting on the ground beside where Edward was standing, perched up against a barrel. He felt fondness creeping up in his soul, thinking about his time here after so long. Winry and Pinako were caring as always. "You know, things haven't changed around here, have they?"

A certain part of him admittedly felt a little depressed that they wouldn't be staying long. Being here almost felt like an escape from the world around them and everything they had been through. Needless to say it felt nice to just be able to sit around and get away from their usual routine for a little while.

Both brothers found themselves looking at the hills around them. Mountains could be seen in the distance. The sky was bright blue, showing no hint of a storm and it was as peaceful as it could possibly be.

"Nope." Edward said, in response to Al's statement. Things really _hadn't_ changed, had they?

Edward had to admit it was peaceful, but that didn't stop the anxiety from rising to his stomach, causing him to feel a little nauseated. Even so, he told himself he would have to endure it, at least just for a little while.

...

Inside, Pinako was sitting at the table, wearing gloves. She was sorting through various cords, that were in a box, preparing to put together some automail.

Armstrong stood at the window nearby, arms folded, as he looked out at the Brothers.

Pinako, after picking out the cords she wanted, inquired his name, "Armstrong, was it?"

Armstrong looks at her, the few strands of hair on his head bouncing with the movement.

"What kind of lives are those boys living every day?" Pinako asked. She had lost her own son and daughter-in-law, because of them getting involved with the military, so it would be a lie to say that she wasn't concerned every day about Edward and Alphonse and the possibility of them getting involved in dangerous situations. "As rural as we are here, we don't get much information about the city. And those boys haven't sent me even one letter for several years. I worry about them."

Winry is looking downcast, near by, thinking about it. Edward used to send her and Pinako letters regularly, but after the incident with Barry the Chopper, he had cut off all contact.

Armstrong looked down, deep in thought. As long as he had known them, he had always had a certain level of respect for the brothers, not to mention how highly Hughes spoke of them.

But there was something else in particular. No matter what hardships Edward and Alphonse went through, they always pushed through things in the end. And their brotherhood, while tested every now and then, always proved to be stronger than the bonds of most of the people he knew anywhere else. It was something that many men at Centeral, he himself included, greatly respected; their selfless love for one another.

"The Elric Brothers, particularly the Fullmetal Alchemist are well known around central. As a result, they do sometimes get drawn into trouble. But they are alright. Those brothers are strong."

Pinako was silent for a moment, pondering it, before she gave a small smile. "Strong, huh?"

At that moment, she couldn't help but think back to when they were still children and they committed human transmutation, how Alphonse had come running to her door, holding Edward, who was covered in blood. She remembered him begging with a choked up voice for her to help his brother, the determination in Edward's eyes, as he declared that he was going to find a way to get their bodies back, no matter what the cost, as well as the the pain that Edward forced himself to endure throughout the automail surgery and multiple proceedures.

"You may be right, but those boys are still just human, and children, at that. They can only endure so much."

Of course, Edward's competence, enthusiasm and surprising intuition in many cases, as well as Alphonse's suit of armor that was adult size, could fool many, but it was something, that she, as their surogate grandmother, just knew.

She knew that even Edward, despite what he wanted people think, was still just a child at heart. She would never forget that throughout the first automail surgery, Edward was blaming himself nonstop because he felt that Alphonse blamed him.

Armstrong hummed in agreement, musing over it. At that moment, he recalled a few days before, how Alphonse was shouting at his Brother, who had been prepared to sacrifice himself, to _live_.

Pinako and Armstrong both knew.

If the brothers didn't have each other, they would quickly fall apart.

...

A little later, Armstrong decided standing around doing nothing was grating on his patience and wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience.

"Pinako, do you have housework of any sort you need help with?" He asked.

She looked up at him. "You don't have to."

Armstrong, however, wouldn't- no, _couldn't_ just not offer help if there was a chance that it was needed.

It would be betraying everything the Armstrong line of generations stood for! He had been taught at an early age to always repay kindness with gratitude.

"No, please, if I didn't, it would be a total dishonor to all the hospitality you have shown me."

Besides, he was gonna be here for several days, he might as well do _something_.

Pinako couldn't help but feel like she was taking a liking to this man. It really was nice of him to offer, who was she to turn it down? So she looked back up at him.

"Well, if you insist, we _are_ almost out of firewood. How about chopping up and bringing in some of that? Winry, go get the ax for him and show him to log pile."

"Okay!" Winry replied, coming over. Alex bowed a bit.

"I'll have it done before you know, ma'm. However, the ax won't be needed. I can do it with alchemy. I have a special technique for log chopping that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations."

...

A little while later, Edward had lied down on the ground, sticking his foot in the air. He was resting his head on his arm.

As nice as this was, he didn't like just sitting around. The anticipation was driving him crazy. He felt his cuts itching beneath his boxers, so he spoke up, trying to think of something else.

"We've got to get back to Central quickly and find that material on the philosopher's Stone." He moaned.

Alphonse looked down at him, Den on the opposite side.

"That's true, but why don't you take it easy for now?" Alphonse tried to get Edward to relex. "Once we go back there, things are going to be hard, after all."

At hearing that, Edward wasn't enthused at all and only became more anxious. "Take it easy" was not a phrase in Edward's dictionary at all.

"Maybe so, but it still bothers me to just sit around doing nothing." He said, rubbing his body into the ground and squirming around. He was getting incredibly fidgety.

When Edward tried to relax, like right now, he only became more stressed out and restless, because he ended up thinking about things he didn't want to. So he did what he could to distract himself, whether that be inflicting physical pain upon himself, obsessively throwing himself into his research to finding the philosopher's stone, or entirely different things.

Anymore, it wasn't even that easy to tell if he was ever truly happy.

"Brother..." Alphonse murmured.

Edward looked up at him in a silent inquiry as to what he wanted to say.

"You should go pay a visit to mom's grave." Alphonse said.

Edward thought for a moment before looking away. "Visit her grave, huh?"

Come to think of it, it had been a while since he had payed his respects to her. Visiting his mom's grave wasn't something he particularly enjoyed doing, because of all the memories it brought back, but he did it, not only as a reminder of his promise, but also because Trisha deserved at least that much for all the years she'd taken care of them and loved them. It would be disrespectful as her son to not visit her grave if he was able to. He loved her that much that he would put himself through that pain because she deserved to be remembered. She went through so much more pain than any of them had.

Not to mention... her grave was the last physical connection they had to her, since they had burned their house down, it was a connection that deserved to be preserved.

((Please note: I am not condeming visiting a loved ones' grave, I'm trying to apply what I would feel about my mother and grandmother if they died. I most certainly would visit out of respect, not because I enjoy being there. I lost my dad when I was 11, so I'm also applying some feelings there. It's important to note that sometimes' desires contradict other desires, because humans are contradictory beings.))

"We're leaving as soon as your automail is fixed, right? So now's the time. I'll stay here." Alphonse told him.

Edward sat up, looking down for a second. "you're right. I guess I'll be back in a bit."

He stood up, stretching a bit. It would probably be best if he told Pinako where he was going so she wouldn't worry too. Theoretically, Alphonse could tell her if she asked, but it would be kind of rude not to tell her himself.

"I'm gonna go let Granny know." He said.

"Okay." Alphonse responded, looking up at him. After he got his armor back to normal, he would probably go by her grave anyway because that was just as important to him, even if his brother didn't like it and wanted to get back on the road immediately. But he knew that when Edward got ansy and nervous, bad things could happen, so it was best to keep him fixated.

Edward stepped in to the house, spotting over at the table. "Granny, I'm gonna go visit mom's grave."

Den followed him to the door.

Pinako looked up at him. "Right now? If you do, take Den with you. If you can tell, he's been wanting to go on a walk."

At hearing the word "walk", Den's ears perked up, and his tail started wagging.

"Sure, I'll bring him with me. Come on, boy." Edward smiled. Den was a well trained dog that didn't need to be on leash, because he would walk right beside him.

"Thank you, Edward." Pinako said, as Edward was leaving the house.

"No problem."

...

A little while later, Armstrong came in, carrying in two armfulls of perfectly split wood. "I'm finished splitting the firewood, Pinako."

Pinako, who was sitting at the table, smiled a bit. Various parts were lying out on the table. She already had put together an automail foot, and had part of the bottom leg completed.

"Thanks a bunch. You can take it easy for as long as you're here too, you know."

"No, as a soilder, my daily training is essential. By the way, I haven't seen Edward around."

Pinako turned back to her work. "He said he was going to visit his mother's grave."

Armstrong seemed a bit concerned, "I told him that going out on his own was dangerous."

(Use your imagination, or something, I imagine he did tell Edward that, I just don't wanna write up everything.)

"It's alright," Pinako reassured. "He has a first rate escort along with him."

"First rate escord?" Armstrong inquired.

"I'm talking about our dog, Den. He's very protective when he needs to be and is well trained too." She explained.

"I see..." Armstrong mused. "Come to think of it, didn't he have automail? Was he hurt at some point?"

"Yes." Pinako confirmed. "When we found him, he was stray that dying alongside the road. We took him in and soon after discovered that his arm was broken. So we had to amputate it, then gave him an automail leg to replace it. He was very nervous around us at first, but he's really become a lot more comfortable with us sense. I can't imagine what he went through before then, though."

"Indeed. It's good that he has a family that will take care of him now." Armstrong said.

((Truth be told I don't know the story behind Den, but I had a similar experience with a cat, so I made up something.))

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope this is good so far.**_

 _ **I will try to update the second half when I get the chance.**_

 _ **Let me if you guys like the format of which I have wrote this in.**_


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